Conventional acoustic cymbals have an edge portion which is an outer peripheral edge portion, a bow portion which is an intermediate portion and a convex cup portion which is a central portion. If an edge portion of the acoustic cymbal is struck with a percussion member such as a stick the strike produces, a tone called a crash tone having a noise component. This tone is used to put emphasis in a musical performance. Also, striking the bow portion produces legato tone or ride tone. Further, striking the cup portion produces a bell tone having many treble components. In this way, different tones can be obtained from striking the edge portion, the bow portion and the cup portion of the acoustic cymbal, respectively. It is, therefore, possible to expand a performance presentation by striking the edge portion, the bow portion and the cup portion separately.
In recent years, an electronic cymbal imitating the acoustic cymbals has been widely used. An electronic cymbal detects the striking position and the striking force of a stick or the like by means of a striking sensor, controls a sound source based on the detected striking position and striking force, and thereby produces a cymbal sound (electronic percussion sound). The electronic cymbal can, therefore, advantageously lower the volume of the striking sound. As the electronic cymbal of this type, there are proposed electronic cymbals made of hard resin such as ABS and enabling a striking sound for which volume is to be lowered, produced from the electronic cymbal itself and an electronic cymbal made by combining two disk-shaped frames having different sizes so as to enhance a sense of performance and a performance quality. In addition, there are other electronic cymbals having a bonded cushion material and having a striking sensor attached to the surface of a disk-shaped metallic cymbal.
The electronic cymbals in the prior art, which are formed out of hard resin, disadvantageously have a problem in that the striking sensation is different from that of an acoustic cymbal. The electronic cymbal made by a combination of two disk-shaped frames is also visually unappealing. Also, for electronic cymbals in the prior art it is disadvantageously difficult to detect a striking force with high accuracy.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an electronic cymbal arrangement that more closely resembles the performance obtained through use of an acoustic cymbal.